Automated communication techniques

ABSTRACT

Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for providing an autoresponder that allows subscribers to opt-in to one or more autoresponder campaigns using their spoken voice. Voice input is received from a subscriber and converted to text. The subscriber is added to at least one campaign. A contact communication identifier is stored in a subscriber contact record from the text that was converted from the voice input. One or more messages are sent to the subscriber using the contact communication identifier, and according to a schedule specified in the campaign. A virtual seminar playback system is described that simulates a live virtual seminar and allows subscribers to access a playback of a media recording over a communication connection at a specified time. An autoresponder system is described that delivers messages to subscribers in multiple available formats, based upon selections received by the subscribers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/151,232, filed Feb. 10, 2009, which application is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

In today's world of technology, companies can broadcast messages tovolumes of subscribers in an automated way, yet in a way that ispersonalized. For example, many companies use an autoresponder series toallow subscribers to opt-in to a message sequence to receive freetraining and/or product offers that are being made by the company or itsaffiliates. If a company had to manually type up an email to send it toeach subscriber, it would be time prohibitive. Autoresponders werecreated to automate this process of follow-up with subscribers by email.

To setup an autoresponder, an administrator simply creates one ormessages that need to be sent to people who subscribe to it, and specifythe schedule for when those messages should be sent. The autoresponderis then associated with one or more subscriber lists, so that when acustomer or prospect opts-in to a particular subscriber list, theyreceive the messages that were specified in the autoresponder series.

As technology has continued to advance, people have also continued toevolve in the way in which they work and play. Many people use theirmobile phone or other mobile device for checking email and/or surfingthe internet. Some people like talking on the phone more than usingemail, while others love SMS text messages. There is another segmentthat still likes to use faxes too. Existing autoresponder systems relyon email as the primary method of communication, without taking thesechanging user preferences into consideration.

SUMMARY

Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for providing anautoresponder that allows subscribers to opt-in to one or moreautoresponder campaigns using their spoken voice. Voice input isreceived from a subscriber. The voice input is converted to text. Thesubscriber is added to at least one campaign. At least one contactcommunication identifier (email, phone, etc.) is stored in a subscribercontact record. At least one contact communication identifier isobtained from the text that was converted from the voice input. One ormore messages are sent to the subscriber using the contact communicationidentifier, and according to a schedule specified in the campaign(s).

In another implementation, a virtual seminar playback system andtechniques are described. A virtual seminar playback module is operableto allow subscribers to access a playback of a media recording over acommunication connection, with the playback being scheduled to begin ata specific start time and last for a specific duration. The virtualseminar playback module is further operable ensure that when aparticular one of the subscribers accesses the playback at a point intime that is after the specific start time, but before the playback haspassed the specific duration, the media recording is delivered to theparticular one of the subscribers starting at a point in the mediarecording that corresponds to a delay interval. In one implementation, avirtual seminar follow-up module is operable to send follow-up messagesto subscribers based upon the actions they took during the virtualseminar.

In yet another implementation, techniques and systems are described forproviding autoresponder campaigns in multiple formats. The autoresponderis operable to store message(s) that are part of an autorespondercampaign in multiple available formats, such as the same message beingstored in formats suitable for sending by email, voice broadcast, voicebroadcast by email, text message, and/or fax, to name a few non-limitingexamples. A request is received to subscribe to one or moreautoresponder campaigns. The request is received from a device that hasbeen operated by a subscriber, and the request specifies one or moreformats in which the subscriber wishes to be notified. The specifiedformat(s) were selected by the subscriber from the multiple availableformats. The subscriber is added to the autoresponder campaign. Themessage(s) for the autoresponder campaign are sent to the subscriber inthe formats that were selected by the subscriber. In anotherimplementation, some of the available formats that are offered tosubscribers are generated programmatically from one of the other formatsthat was created or uploaded by a user. As one non-limiting example, anemail format can be converted into a voice broadcast usingtext-to-speech translation.

This Summary was provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a voice autoresponder system.

FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram for one implementation that illustratesthe stages involved in subscribing to an autoresponder by voice input.

FIG. 3 is a process flow diagram for one implementation that illustratesthe stages involved in performing a validation test on the informationtranslated from the voice input.

FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram for one implementation that illustratesthe stages involved in automatically detecting that a subscriber hascalled the system from a mobile phone, and sending one or more SMS textmessages as a follow-up.

FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram for one implementation that illustratesthe stages involved in programmatically retrieving additional data aboutthe subscriber from an external database based upon information gatheredfrom the subscriber.

FIGS. 6A-6C are simulated screens for one implementation that illustrateadding a new campaign to an autoresponder system.

FIG. 7 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesediting an existing campaign of an autoresponder system.

FIG. 8 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesdetails about existing campaigns, including some details aboutsubscribers associated with the campaign.

FIG. 9 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesremoving subscribers from a subscriber list based upon data from a donot call registry.

FIG. 10 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesadding a new SMS text message to a campaign of an autoresponder system.

FIG. 11 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesdetails about existing campaigns, including some details about a newlyadded SMS text message.

FIGS. 12A-12B are simulated screens for one implementation thatillustrate adding a new voice broadcast to an autoresponder system.

FIGS. 13A-13B are simulated screens for one implementation thatillustrate editing a message of an existing campaign.

FIG. 14 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesadding a new SMS broadcast to an autoresponder system.

FIG. 15 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesallocating a new phone number to be used with one or more campaigns inan autoresponder system.

FIG. 16 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustrates anew phone number having been allocated.

FIG. 17 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesusing a newly added phone number as part of a campaign in anautoresponder system.

FIG. 18 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesthe newly created campaign that uses the newly added phone number totrack calls through the campaign and other details.

FIG. 19 is a diagrammatic view of a virtual seminar playback system.

FIG. 20 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratescreating a virtual seminar playback with specified options.

FIG. 21 is a process flow diagram for one implementation thatillustrates the stages involved in providing an autoresponder serieswith messages capable of being delivered in a variety of availableformats.

FIG. 22 is a process flow diagram for one implementation thatillustrates the stages involved in generating another message formatfrom a user-specified message format.

FIG. 23 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesadding a new campaign to an autoresponder system.

FIG. 24 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesmanaging messages in an autoresponder series.

FIG. 25 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesediting a selected message and/or creating a new message for anautoresponder series.

FIG. 26 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesmanaging subscribers associated with a particular campaign.

FIG. 27 is a simulated screen for one implementation that illustratesmanaging automation rules that are associated with a particularcampaign.

FIG. 28 is a diagrammatic view of a computer system of oneimplementation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technologies and techniques herein may be described in the generalcontext as an autoresponder application, but the technologies andtechniques also serve other purposes in addition to these. In oneimplementation, one or more of the techniques described herein can beimplemented as features within an autoresponder program such as thoseoffered by A Weber, 1 ShoppingCart, Infusionsoft, or iContact, or fromany other type of program or service that manages automatedcommunications to subscribers. In another implementation, one or more ofthe techniques described herein are implemented as features within voicebroadcasting and/or SMS text broadcasting applications.

In one implementation, an autoresponder is described. The term“autoresponder” as used herein is meant to include a technique fortransmitting one or more messages to a group of one or more people in anautomated fashion. Subscribers can sign up to receive one or moremessages in an autoresponder series, such as through a voice broadcast,email, SMS text message, etc.

In the case of a voice broadcast, subscribers then receive the messagesin the autoresponder series at the scheduled times through a voicebroadcast that is sent to their specified telephone number. The term“voice broadcast” as used herein is meant to include an audio file orcommunication that is played or otherwise communicated to telephones ortelephony devices that are associated with a select one or moresubscribers. The voice broadcast can be played while a human is on thephone, and in some cases, when a human does not answer the phone, thevoice broadcast is left as a voice mail in the voice mail box that isassociated with the phone.

In another implementation, an autoresponder is described that allowssubscribers to receive messages in one or more of a variety of formats,based upon the individual preferences of the subscriber. Somenon-limiting examples of formats in which subscribers may receivemessages include voice broadcast, email, voice broadcast by email, fax,and SMS text message, to name a few.

In yet another implementation, a virtual seminar playback system isdescribed that allows subscribers to join at the specified time, andthat simulates a live virtual seminar. The term “virtual seminar” asused herein is meant to include various types of seminars that aredelivered over communication connections (versus in person). A fewnon-limiting examples of a virtual seminar can include a teleseminarthat is conducted over a telephone or other communication connection, awebinar that is delivered over an Internet connection, a webinar that isdelivered over an Internet and telephone connection in combination, etc.The term “live virtual seminar” is referring to a virtual seminar thatis being delivered in real time, with one or more presenters speaking orother information being delivered virtually. By simulating a livevirtual seminar, subscribers are given the impression that the presenteror other information is actually being delivered at that moment, asopposed to being played back from a recording of a prior occurrence whenit actually happened. In one implementation of virtual seminar playbacksystem, follow-up messages can be sent to subscribers through anautoresponder based upon their level of participation in a particularplayback that they had signed up for.

As shown in FIG. 1, an autoresponder system 10 is described.Autoresponder system 10 includes an autoresponder 12 and one or moresubscriber phones 14A and 14B (referred to collectively herein assubscriber phones 14). Autoresponder 12 is coupled to subscriber phones14 over one or more packet switched telephone networks (PSTN) and/orvoice over internet protocol (VOIP) network(s) 20.

Autoresponder 12 has several modules, such as campaign module 24,subscriber module 26, outbound broadcast module 28, inbound processingmodule 30, tracking module 32, virtual seminar module 33, and othermodule(s) 34. In one implementation, one or more features provided bymodules of autoresponder 12 can be accessed by one or more users havingproper access levels to the associated functionality.

Campaign module 24 is responsible for managing campaigns that contain anautoresponder series of one or more messages. The messages associatedwith one or more campaigns can later be broadcast to subscribers of theautoresponder series on a scheduled basis by the outbound broadcastmodule 28, as described momentarily. Subscriber module 26 is responsiblefor managing one or more subscribers to one or more of the campaigns.The subscriber module 26 allows new subscribers to be added, updates tobe made to data associated with existing subscribers, and existingsubscribers to be deleted or unsubscribed.

Outbound broadcast module 28 is responsible for sending out messagebroadcasts to one or more subscribers on a scheduled basis. Outboundbroadcast module can send out messages to subscribers in one or moreformats, such as voice broadcast 29A, voice broadcast by email 29B,email 29C, SMS text message 29D, fax or other image 29E, and/or in aphysically printed document 29F, to name a few non-limiting examples.

Any one or more of these message formats (29A-29F) can contain varioustypes of information just as a typical text-based autoresponder messagemight include. For example, in the case of a voice broadcast 29A, itcould include information such as free training on one or more topics, aspecial offer or discount to a product or service, information that thesubscriber requested about a product or service, etc.

A voice broadcast 29A that gets distributed to subscribers by outboundbroadcast module 28 can be captured in an audio file in one of a varietyof ways. As one non-limiting example, a voice broadcast gets sent out toone or more subscribers by playing an audio file that was previouslyrecorded over a telephone, captured in a voice mail, and then saved toan audio file. In other words, an administrator or other user withpermission to manage the messages that get sent to the subscribers candial into a specified phone number and leave a voice message. That savedvoice message is then captured or otherwise converted to an audio fileformat. That saved voice message is then assigned as a voice broadcastfor an autoresponder series of a particular campaign that is managed bycampaign module 24.

As another non-limiting example, outbound broadcast module 28 can sendout the one or more voice broadcasts 29A by playing an audio file thathas been recorded using a recording device and uploaded to the campaignmodule 24. Examples of such recording devices can include a computer,video camera, tape recorder, dictaphone, or any other device that iscapable of capturing the spoken word and saving it into an audio formatthat can then be uploaded on a computer.

In the case of voice broadcast by email 29B, outbound broadcast module28 can take the audio file that was captured for the voice broadcast29A, and just email it to the subscriber at the specified email address.Alternatively or additionally, a separate audio file could be uploadedfor attaching to an email. In the case of email 29C, outbound broadcastmodule 28 can send the message in the format of an email usingtraditional email technologies. And in the case of SMS text message 29D,outbound broadcast module 28 can send the message in the format of anSMS text message using currently available SMS text messagingtechnologies.

For fax/images 29E, outbound broadcast module 28 can transmit the faxover a telephone fax line, using a computer that is capable oftransmitting faxes or image documents, or through an email service thatis capable of transmitting images as faxes or attachments. In the caseof printed documents 29F, outbound broadcast module 28 can send a signalto a network printed to queue the documents, can submit a specificationfile to a fulfillment center for processing, and/or can otherwise queuethe printed documents for later processing.

Inbound processing module 30 is responsible for receiving an incomingcommunication from a particular one of the subscribers and taking anaction based upon an action specified by the particular subscriber, suchas signing up the subscriber to one or more follow-up campaigns toprovide the requested information to the subscriber. For example, thesubscriber can sign up for one or more campaigns and/or otherwiserequest information using a web form 31A on a web site, by voice 31B, byvoice that is submitted as an attachment to an email 31C, by email 31D,through an SMS text message 31E, or by fax/image 31F.

Once inbound processing module 30 receives the request for informationfrom the subscriber, the subscriber is then provided with theinformation that is requested. In some cases, this will involve addingthe subscriber to one or more campaigns that then follow-up with therequested information in the one or more formats that the subscriberrequested to receive that information in (such as email and voicebroadcast, etc.)

In one implementation, the input that can be received by inboundprocessing module 30 is not just limited to signing up a subscriber toone or more campaigns. As one non-limiting example, while playing avoice broadcast message, when a particular subscriber presses one ormore keys on a telephone device that have been associated with anunsubscribe command, then inbound processing module 30 can receive thecommand and unsubscribe the particular subscriber from one or morecampaigns.

As another non-limiting example, while playing a voice broadcastmessage, when the particular subscriber presses one or more keys on atelephone device that have been associated with a live operator command,the inbound processing module 30 can receive the command and forward theincoming call to a live operator. As yet another non-limiting example,when the subscriber presses one or more keys on a telephone device thatare associated with a leave message command, the inbound processingmodule 30 can receive the command and allow the particular subscriber toleave a voice mail for customer service or another party.

In another implementation, the subscriber can call a particular phonenumber and/or extension to subscribe to an autoresponder series of aparticular campaign. As one non-limiting example, each of the campaignsmanaged by campaign module 24 can be assigned a unique telephone numberand/or extension that can be used by the inbound processing module 30 todetermine a particular one of the campaigns that the subscriber wants tojoin.

When inbound processing module 30 receives a subscribe command after thesubscriber presses one or more keys associated with a subscribe commandon the telephone device, the inbound processing module 30 can then addthat subscriber to the campaign that is associated with the particularphone number or extension that was dialed by the subscriber.

Alternatively or additionally, inbound processing module 30 can allow aparticular one of the subscribers to select an option to subscribe toone or more campaigns through voice input, such as by leaving a voicemessage, or otherwise speaking the information. Upon receipt of thevoice input 29A, the inbound processing module 30 is operable to havethe particular subscriber added to one or more of the campaigns basedupon details extracted from the voice message. As one non-limitingexample, the voice message can be programmatically transcribed from avoice format into a text format so that the particular one of thesubscribers can be added to the subscriber module as a new subscriber.In other words, the subscriber simply leaves a voice mail with his name,email, or other information, and that information is converted fromaudio into text so that the subscriber can be added to the autoresponderseries of a particular campaign. As another non-limiting example, thevoice message can be listened to by a human, and the subscriber module26 can receive input from the human to add the particular subscriber toone or more of the campaigns based upon the information contained in thevoice message.

A non-limiting example of a fax/image 31F can be a traditional fax thatis received over a telephone line. Another non-limiting example of afax/image 31F can be someone's business card that has been scanned andimported into inbound processing module 30 (such as directly from ascanning device, from an email, fax, file upload, etc.). In oneimplementation, data that is contained in the fax/image 31F can bescanned by a computer to extract sufficient information to determinewhat campaign or other information the subscriber has requested, and tothen programmatically add the subscriber to the requested campaigns. Inanother implementation, a human can review the fax/image 31F and updatethe system appropriately to provide the subscriber with the requestedinformation. This could include adding the subscriber to subscribermodule 26 and/or adding the subscriber to one or more campaigns incampaign module 24.

Tracking module 32 is responsible for allowing one or more campaignmanagers or other authorized users to view details about one or more ofthe campaigns and/or for generating reports related to that data. Suchdetails that can be accessed regarding the campaigns can include thestatus of one or more campaigns, the number of messages that have beensent to what subscribers, the number of subscribers that haveunsubscribed to the messages, the number of messages that could not bedelivered by the voice broadcast or other specified method, etc.

Virtual seminar module 33 is operable to deliver virtual seminars to oneof more subscribers of subscriber module 26 as desired. An exemplaryimplementation of virtual seminar module 33 is described in furtherdetail in FIGS. 19-20.

In one implementation, autoresponder 12 is coupled to one moresubscriber computing devices 16A and 16B (referred to collectivelyherein as subscriber computing devices 16) over one or more network(s)22. In such an implementation, subscriber computing devices 16 canreceive one or more messages from autoresponder 12 (such as an email, avoice broadcast sent by email, etc.) and/or can manage one or moresubscriber settings for autoresponder 12.

In yet another implementation, voice autoresponder system 10 includes anapplication programming interface 36 which allows one or more externalsystems 18 to integrate with and/or otherwise access one or morefeatures of autoresponder 12 programmatically.

Turning now to FIGS. 2-27, the stages for implementing one or moreimplementations of autoresponder 12 are described in further detail. Insome implementations, the processes of FIG. 2-27 are at least partiallyimplemented in the operating logic of computing device 800 (of FIG. 28).FIGS. 2-18 are simulated screens that demonstrate some exemplaryimplementations for autoresponder system 10. FIGS. 19-20 demonstratesome exemplary implementations for a virtual seminar playback system.FIGS. 21-27 demonstrate some implementations of autoresponders thatsupport the distribution of messages in multiple formats.

FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram 50 for one implementation thatillustrates the stages involved in subscribing to an autoresponder byvoice input. Voice input is received from a subscriber (stage 52). Thevoice input is converted to text (stage 54). A few non-limiting examplesof voice input that can be converted to text can include thesubscriber's name, email, phone number, and/or the type of informationthat is being requested. Some or all of the information may correspondto one or more data fields in the autoresponder system, or none of themmay end up corresponding.

In one implementation, the voice input is saved into an audio file afteror as it is being received from the subscriber, and the voice input isthen performed by extracting text from the audio file through anautomated speech-to-text translation process. In another implementation,the speech-to-text translation happens interactively as the subscriberspeaks the information. In such an implementation, confirmation can berequested from the subscriber to have the subscriber confirm that anaccurate translation has been made of the voice input. In other words,the system can let the subscriber know what information it extracted,and ask the subscriber to verify if that information was speech-to-texttranslation correctly understood the subscriber's voice.

The subscriber is then added to one or more autoresponder campaignsbased upon information contained in the voice input (stage 56). Thecontact communication identifier(s) and/or other details for thesubscriber are stored in the subscriber contact record (stage 58). The“contact communication identifier(s)” are the contact numbers/detailsfor the subscriber, such as email address, home phone number, work phonenumber, cell phone number, or any other means that the subscriber hasrequested be used to contact the subscriber.

One or more messages are then sent to the subscriber according to thecampaign schedule (stage 60) using at least one of the contactcommunication identifiers that the subscriber provided (or that wasprogrammatically determined by an interaction the subscriber had withthe system).

Turning now to FIG. 3, a process flow diagram 80 for one implementationis shown that illustrates the stages involved in performing a validationtest on the information that was translated from the voice input. Avalidation test is performed to determine if the contact communicationidentifier is valid (stage 82). As one non-limiting example, if thesubscriber provided his/her email, then a test email message can be sentto that address to ensure that the system captured the informationcorrectly (and/or that it is a valid address in general). If thesubscriber provided her/her cell phone number, then a test can be sentin the form of an SMS text message to ensure that the number is validand/or was received accurately.

If the test fails (decision point 84), then an error message can be sentto a user of the autoresponder system 10 (such as a customer supportrepresentative), to correct the contact communication identifier for thesubscriber (i.e. to fix any typos and/or other issues there may be withit). If the test did not fail (decision point 84), then the messages aresent to the subscriber at that contact communication identifier asscheduled (stage 88).

FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram 100 for one implementation thatillustrates the stages involved in automatically detecting that asubscriber has called the system from a mobile phone, and sending one ormore SMS text messages as a follow-up. Input is received (by voice orotherwise) from a subscriber (stage 102). The system detects that theinput is being received from a mobile phone of a subscriber (stage 104).A phone number that is associated with the mobile phone is stored in thesubscriber contact record (stage 106). The subscriber is sent afollow-up question by SMS text message (stage 108). An example follow-upquestion could be “Hey [Name], what's your web site?”

Once a response is received to the follow-up question (stage 110), theresponse is stored in one or more data fields of the subscriber contactrecord (stage 112). In the case of the web site hypothetical, if thesubscriber actually replies back with the web site, then it can bestored in a web site field on the subscriber record, as just onenon-limiting example.

FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram 120 for one implementation thatillustrates the stages involved in programmatically retrievingadditional data about the subscriber from an external database basedupon information gathered from the subscriber. Supplemental informationcan be located about a subscriber in an external database (stage 122),such as using data that has been provided by the subscriber or retrievedprogrammatically by the system (such as the caller id of a phone thesubscriber used to call from). Supplemental information can be retrievedabout the subscriber using data scraping technology, or another form ofdata lookup. The term “data scraping” as used herein is meant to includea technique in which a computer program extracts data fromhuman-readable output coming from another program. Let's look at a fewexamples to illustrate this further. If you have the web site of thesubscriber (such as from a SMS text message response described in FIG.4, or that was otherwise gathered), data scraping can beprogrammatically performed to capture information about that web site.In the case of the subscriber's name, information can be looked up aboutthe subscriber at one or more social media sites, such as Facebook,Twitter, etc. The popularity of the subscriber on these sites can beextracted. These are just a few non-limiting examples of the type ofsupplemental information that may be retrieved about the subscriber.

Once retrieved, one or more portions of the supplemental information canthen be stored in the subscriber contact record for later use (stage124). Once obtained, this supplemental information can be used forvarious purposes, such as to determine which types of campaigns to addthe subscriber to (stage 126).

FIGS. 6A-6C are simulated screens for one implementation that illustrateadding a new campaign to an autoresponder system. As shown in simulatedscreen 150 of FIG. 6A, details about a new campaign can be specified,such as campaign name 152, the from name, and the from email that shouldbe displayed with the voice broadcast. The incoming phone number thatsubscribers can use to subscribe to this campaign by telephone 154 isspecified.

The outbound caller id number 156 can also be specified. This indicateswhat number should be displayed on the caller ID of the subscriber'sphone when the voice broadcast is sent to the subscriber. A transfer tolive operator option 158 is also shown, which enables the subscriber toreach a live operator (either automatically, or by pressing the “1” key,in this example). When live operator option 158 is selected, a phonenumber that the call should be transferred to can also be specified 162.In other words, the phone number associated with the live operator canbe specified when the transfer to live operator option 158 is used. Inthis example, options are provided for transferring the callautomatically 160, or only when the subscriber selects an option toreach an operator.

Another option displayed on simulated screen 150 is the ability to havevoice mail transcripts to be sent to one or more email addresses 164.For example, when attach audio file 166 is selected, the email address168 will receive an email that contains an audio file of the voice mailthat the subscriber left when they were subscribing to this campaign (orattempting to do so). When errors are detected, having this audio filecan be a very helpful way of correcting any speech-to-text translationsthat may not have been done correctly.

Continuing with FIG. 6B, some additional exemplary options that can bespecified for a new campaign are displayed on simulated screen 170. Anemail address can be specified for receiving SMS text message replies172. Custom fields 174 can also be specified, such as to captureadditional data elements from the subscribers that are appropriate forthe particular campaign. When the enable KDA option 175 is checked for aparticular custom field, then keyword density analysis can be utilized.Keyword density analysis means that the responses that are provided bysubscribers can be tracked and analyzed in the aggregate to determinewhich key words are commonly appearing. This analysis can help identifyareas that new content or help should be offered to subscribers.

An option can also be specified to what campaign the subscriber shouldbe added to 176 if they leave a voice mail. Another option can bespecified regarding what campaign, if any, the subscriber should beremoved from 177 when they join the campaign. As another option, if therecipient speaks their email address when leaving a voicemail, they canbe subscribed to the autoresponder specified in autoresponder emailaddress 178.

Continuing with FIG. 6C, simulated screen 180 illustrates someadditional options for the new campaign. For example, a welcome emailcan be sent when indicated 182, and with the specified welcome message183. An email notification 184 can be sent if the recipient selects anoption to be removed. Subscription by email option 185 can be selectedwhen subscribers can join this campaign by email. To join by email,subscribers can email the specified email address 186 that is associatedwith the campaign.

An audio file 187 to be used for incoming calls can be specified. Thisis the audio file that the subscriber hears when the call the number tojoin the campaign. In one implementation, virtual seminar option 188 canbe specified to indicate whether or not this campaign is to be treatedas a virtual seminar, such as a teleseminar or webinar. Upon pressingthe save option 189, the new campaign is saved to the system.

FIG. 7 is a simulated screen 190 for one implementation that illustratesediting an existing campaign of an autoresponder system. Once a newcampaign has been added, such as using the screens shown in FIGS. 6A-6C,the campaign can then be edited at a later point in time, such as usingsimulated screen 190. Just a portion of this screen is illustrated forthe sake of clarity. In this example, an ID to be used for anapplication programming interface 192 has been assigned. This ID can beused by external software applications or commercial services via an API(Application Programming Interface) that need to refer to this campaignby a particular identifier. Details about a toll free number 194 and pinnumber are displayed that specify how people can subscribe to thisparticular campaign by telephone. HTML or other programming code 196 isalso displayed that can be embedded into another web page to allowpeople to subscribe to this campaign. Details about the campaign 198,such as campaign name, from name, from email, and outbound caller id arealso displayed. These settings can be edited as desired to refine thevoice broadcast campaign over time.

FIG. 8 is a simulated screen 220 for one implementation that illustratesdetails about existing campaigns, including some details about thesubscribers that are associated with the campaign. In oneimplementation, these details can be accessed from tracking module 32.Various campaign options are displayed on the screen, such as a createnew campaign option 222 and advanced client search option 224. Variousdetails about one or more campaigns are also displayed, such as optionsfor editing 226, deleting 228, copying 230 data for a selected campaign,creating a voice broadcast 232, creating an SMS text broadcast 234.Details on how subscribers can join a particular campaign are displayed,such as the phone number and/or pin number 236 of the campaign.

Other details including the name of the campaign 238 and its status 240are also displayed. Subscriber data and options are also displayed, suchas the number of subscribers, an option to view 242 a list of thosesubscribers, add a new subscriber 244, import subscribers 248, and anoption to scrub the subscriber list against a do not call list. Thescrub against a do not call list is described in more detail in FIG. 9.The number of voice broadcast messages and SMS text messages in theparticular campaign is displayed, along with an option to create a newvoice message 250 or new SMS text message 252 for that campaign. A listof existing voice and SMS text messages in the campaign are also listed,along with options for editing 254, deleting 256, or copying 258 themessage. These are just a few examples of the types of tracking and/ormanagement of one or more campaigns that can be offered.

FIG. 9 is a simulated screen 280 for one implementation that illustratesremoving subscribers from a subscriber list based upon data from a donot call registry. There are some governmental regulations that allowpeople to specify that they do not want to be called by telephone unlessit has been pre-authorized. These lists of people who have asked to notbe contacted by telephone are often referred to as “do not call lists”.Simulated screen 280 allows for a subscriber list associated with aselected campaign 282 to be scrubbed against a do not call list. Anoption 284 can be specified to indicate a time frame that should be usedfor scrubbing the data. Then, once the scrub option is selected 286, anynames that are found in the subscriber list for the selected campaign282 that are also present in a do not call registry can be removed fromthe list so that those particular subscribers do not receive voicebroadcasts.

FIG. 10 is a simulated screen 300 for one implementation thatillustrates some exemplary options for adding a new SMS text message toa campaign of an autoresponder system. Details about the SMS textmessage, such as the send interval 302 and text of the message to besent 304 can be specified. Various custom tags can be used tocustomize/personalize the SMS text message that gets sent to thesubscriber(s). These custom tags can be inserted into the body of themessage to be sent 304.

If the option to allow replies to SMS 306 is checked, then variousoptions are enabled to allow additional follow-up messages to be sent aswell. For example, a particular field in the subscriber contact record308 can be populated with a response that is received from thesubscriber to one of the questions. A resend option 310 can be specifiedif the message should be re-sent. An option to indicate whether numericreplies are expected 312 is also provided. Numeric replies enablequizzes and other types of polls to be performed and tallied based uponnumeric responses. An option is provided to allow another follow-upmessage to be sent 314 by SMS text message if the first response isreceived. Another option provided on simulated screen 300 is an option316 that specifies whether or not the SMS text message(s) should be sentto existing subscribers of the particular campaign, or just added to themessage sequence.

Turning now to FIG. 11, a simulated screen 330 is shown for oneimplementation that illustrates details about existing campaigns,including the newly added SMS text message that was created based uponthe example in FIG. 10. Details about the newly added SMS text messageare shown 332, such as the text of the original SMS text message 334,and the follow-up text message 336.

FIGS. 12A-12B are simulated screens for one implementation thatillustrates adding a new voice broadcast to a voice autorespondersystem. Beginning with simulated screen 340, a new broadcast can becreated by specifying various details, such as the broadcast name 342,the subscriber list 344 that this voice broadcast should be sent to, thedate 346 the voice broadcast should be sent, and the time 348 the voicebroadcast should be sent on that date 346. In one implementation, thetime 348 for the voice broadcast is based upon a time zone associatedwith the subscriber, such as to ensure that the subscriber does notreceive broadcasts during the middle of the night or at another timethat would be potentially disturbing. In another implementation, thetime 348 that the voice broadcast is sent is based upon a time zonespecified by an administrator or associated with the account or acomputer of the voice broadcast system. Other time zone possibilitiescould also be used. In addition to specifying the broadcast name,subscriber list, and execute date and time, simulated screen 340 alsodisplays instructions for how the user can record the voice broadcast byleaving a voice mail 350 at a particular telephone number.

Continuing with FIG. 12B, simulated screen 360 provides an option toallow the user to upload an existing audio file 362 (as an alternativeto recording the message by leaving a voice mail). Once uploaded, theaudio file will be displayed in field 364.

Turning now to FIGS. 13A-13B, simulated screens are shown for oneimplementation that illustrate editing a message (such as a voicebroadcast message) of an existing campaign. In other words, once a voicebroadcast message has been created, such as using screens FIG. 12A-12B,that message can be further edited at a later time. Beginning withsimulated screen 370 of FIG. 13A, the campaign name 272 is displayed,along with other details about when the message will be sent. Thedetails about how to record the voice broadcast by leaving a voice mailare also displayed. Continuing with FIG. 13B, simulated screen 380displays the files that have been previously uploaded as the live-answeraudio file 382 and the answering machine audio file 384 are alsodisplayed. From this screen, the user can listen to the existing voicebroadcast and/or upload a new audio file to be used for the broadcast.Once the user is happy with the voice broadcast, the changes can besaved so that they take effect for future voice broadcasts that are sentout.

FIG. 14 is a simulated screen 390 for one implementation thatillustrates adding a new SMS broadcast to an autoresponder system. Inother words, simulated screen 390 can be used to broadcast an SMS textmessage out to the specified broadcast audience. The text of the message391 can be specified, along with various other options. For example, theoption can be selected to indicate whether or not to allow replies 392to the SMS text message. Details 394 about a reply that should be sentback to any subscribers that respond can also be specified. These replyoptions were explained in further detail in FIG. 10. The broadcastaudience 396 that the SMS text message should be sent to are specified,as well as the execute date 397 and the execute time 398 that indicatewhen the message should be sent. In this example, to send the SMS textmessage broadcast immediately, the default values can just be accepted,although other ways could also be used to indicate an immediate sendingof the message. Once the new SMS broadcast is saved using save option399, then SMS text message broadcast will then be sent to the specifiedbroadcast audience 396 according to the other settings that werespecified on simulated screen 390.

Turning now to FIGS. 15-18, some example implementations are shown ofautoresponder system 10 that allow for creation and/or allocation oftelephone numbers for use with campaigns. FIGS. 15-18 offer just a fewnon-limiting examples, and any other suitable manner of creating and/orediting phone numbers for use with one or more autoresponder campaignscould also be used in other implementations.

FIG. 15 is a simulated screen 400 for one implementation thatillustrates allocating a new phone number to be used with one or morecampaigns in autoresponder system 10. The user can enter the area code402 that the new number should be based in, or just leave it blank tohave the system pick an area code. In the example shown, the user canalso specify a descriptive name 404 to be used for the telephone number.Upon selecting save option 406, the new phone number is allocated foruse.

Turning now to FIG. 16, a simulated screen 410 for one implementation isshown that illustrates a new phone number having been allocated in thespecified area code 412. The phone numbers list also shows otheroptions, such as an option to add a new toll free number 414, an optionto add a new incoming phone number in your area code 416, and an optionto add a new caller ID number (that you can call from) 418. The newnumber that was just allocated 420 is also displayed in the list, andcan be edited as desired.

FIG. 17 is a simulated screen 430 for one implementation thatillustrates using the newly added phone number as part of a campaign inautoresponder system 10. In this example, the incoming phone number 432can be chosen to use the new number that was just allocated for thiscampaign. In this example, we want to forward all calls to anothernumber, but track it through a campaign. So the transfer to liveoperator option 434 is checked, and the option to transfer callsautomatically 436 is also checked. The phone number to transfer thecalls to 438 is also specified.

As shown in simulated screen 440 of FIG. 18, the newly created campaignthat uses the newly added phone number 442 can now track calls throughthe campaign 444 and other details 446. For example, a new phone numbercan be allocated and then used by a particular campaign for a particularmarketing promotion you are running, so you can see how many calls weregenerated by that campaign. The calls can still be routed to anothernumber as desired, but by using the allocated phone number that isassigned to the campaign, you can track a lot of useful details aboutthe campaign. This is just one of many examples of how the phone numberallocation feature could be used with autoresponder system 10.

Turning now to FIGS. 19 and 20, a virtual seminar playback system isdescribed. In one implementation, virtual seminar playback system ispart of autoresponder system 10. In another implementation, virtualseminar playback system can operate independently of autorespondersystem 10.

FIG. 19 is a diagrammatic view of a virtual seminar playback system 500.Virtual seminar playback system 500 has a virtual seminar playbackmodule 514 that is operable to allow subscribers to access a playback ofa media recording over a communication connection, such as fromsubscriber phones 504A or 504B over a packet switched telephone network(PSTN) and/or a Voice-Over-IP telephone network 510, and/or fromsubscriber computing devices 506A or 506B over network connection 512. Amedia recording can include any type of media file that has a timelineof data that can be played back, such as an audio file, movie file, etc.In one implementation, the virtual seminar can be a teleseminar, withone or more audio files being made accessible for playback at thescheduled time to subscribers who access the playback over a telephoneor other communication connection. In another implementation, thevirtual seminar can be a webinar, with a combination of video, audio,and/or other files being made accessible for playback to subscribers atthe scheduled time who access the playback over an Internet or othercommunication connection.

Virtual seminar playback module 514 allows the playback to be scheduledto begin at a specific start time and last for a specific duration. Thevirtual seminar playback module 514 ensures that when a particular oneof the subscribers accesses the playback at a point in time that isafter the specific start time, but before the playback has passed thespecific duration, the media recording is delivered to the particularone of the subscribers starting at a point in the media recording thatcorresponds to a delay interval.

In other words, virtual seminar playback module 514 is responsible forcalculating the delay interval, and then transmitting the playback datafor the media recording at a corresponding point in the media recordingthat corresponds to the delay interval. The term “delay interval” asused herein is meant to include an amount of time after a scheduledstart time. In one implementation, the delay interval is calculated bydetermining how late the subscriber accessed/joined the virtual seminarafter the scheduled start time, and then using that amount of time asthe delay interval. In such an implementation, if the subscriber joined5 minutes after the scheduled start time, the delay interval would be 5minutes, and they would start receiving the contents of the virtualseminar that is contained at the timestamp of 5 minutes within the mediarecording. In other implementations, the delay interval may notcorrespond identically to the amount of time that the subscriber joinedafter the start time. For example, the delay interval could be somenumber greater or less than the amount of time that the subscriberdelayed in accessing the virtual seminar after the specified start time.The delay interval could be calculated based upon a number of factors orlogic.

In some implementations, additional steps need to be taken to initiatethe playback at the delay interval, such as when the media recordingand/or the technology that is used to handle its playback are not ableto advance to a specific point in time in the recording based upon thedelay interval. In such implementations, different versions of the mediarecording can be generated and/or stored that contain different portionsof the playback. As one non-limiting example, one version of the filemay contain the entire recording, while another version of the file mayhave content that starts 1 minute late and is thus missing the firstminute of the entire recording, etc. Here is a non-limiting example ofhow these files could be used in such a scenario. When a particularsubscriber joins one minute late, the version of the media recordingthat has been shortened by one minute could be delivered to thesubscriber since the subscriber had joined one minute late.

In one implementation, a virtual seminar follow-up module 516 isincluded, and is operable to send follow-up messages to subscribersbased upon the actions they took during the virtual seminar. As onenon-limiting example, for any subscribers who had signed up for thevirtual seminar, but who joined after the scheduled start time (i.e.late), virtual seminar follow-up module 516 could send them a certaintype of follow-up message(s), such as an email that can be accessed bysubscriber from subscriber computing device 506A or 506B over network512. As another non-limiting example, for any subscribers who had signedup for the virtual seminar, but who did not join at all, virtual seminarfollow-up module 516 could send them another type of follow-upmessage(s). In one implementation, virtual seminar playback system 500contains an API 518 that allows external systems 508 to make use offunctionality offered by virtual seminar playback system 500. FIG. 20includes additional illustrations of how virtual seminar playback system500 could be used.

FIG. 20 is a simulated screen 540 for one implementation thatillustrates creating a particular virtual seminar playback withspecified options. In one implementation, a particular virtual seminarplayback could be assigned to a particular campaign in an autoresponderfor tracking and/or other purposes. In another implementation, aparticular virtual seminar playback could be implemented independentlyof any particular campaign.

In simulated screen 540, there are various options that can be specifiedfor the virtual seminar playback. For example, the media file to use forincoming calls before the virtual seminar starts 544 can be specified,or can be listened to by selecting the listen option 542. The frequency546 of the virtual seminar can be specified, such as whether this is aone-time or recurring teleseminar, and/or a one-time or recurringwebinar. The virtual seminar date 548, time 550, duration 552, and/or anoption for specifying when the virtual seminar channel/lines should open554 can be selected. In this example, the duration of the virtualseminar will be the duration that the media recording for the main partof the virtual seminar lasts. And the time specifying when the virtualseminar channel/lines should open 554 indicates at what pointsubscribers are allowed to access/join the virtual seminar.

One or more follow-up messages can be sent by virtual seminar follow-upmodule 516, as discussed in FIG. 19. Options 556, 558, 560, and 562allow the user to specify different campaigns that users who do notattend, who arrive late, who left early, and/or who completed thevirtual seminar should receive. These are just a few non-limitingexamples of the types of follow-up messages that can be sent tosubscribers based upon their actions.

A pre-seminar media recording 564 can also be uploaded or otherwisespecified. An option to listen to or watch 566 the pre-seminar mediarecording is also provided. The pre-seminar media recording is what getsplayed after the lines/channels for the virtual seminar have beenopened, but before the main part of the virtual seminar begins. Forexample, this could be introduction by the speaker that says, “Hey, it'sMike, and we're going to wait a few more minutes until the seminar issupposed to start. But I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm hereand excited to talk with you”. In one implementation, the pre-seminarmedia recording 564 can be set to loop multiple times until the virtualseminar actually begins.

The virtual seminar media recording 568 can also be uploaded orotherwise specified. An option to listen to or watch 570 the virtualseminar media recording is also provided. The virtual seminar mediarecording 568 is the file that contains the main part of the virtualseminar. In some implementations, the pre-seminar media recording 564and the virtual seminar media recording 568 can be the same file.

Once the virtual seminar settings have been specified as desired, theuser can select the save option 572 to create and/or update the virtualseminar. Once the virtual seminar has been created, subscribers canaccess the virtual seminar at the scheduled time over the using thespecified connection information. For example, in the case of ateleseminar, subscribers can dial the assigned telephone number (andoptional access code, depending on the specific implementation) andlisten to the virtual seminar at the scheduled time. In the case of awebinar, subscribers can access the web site with a dedicated URL oraccess code that is designed for the webinar and/or can dial in bytelephone, depending on the webinar implementation.

Turning now to FIGS. 21-27, some implementations of autoresponders aredescribed that support the distribution of messages in multiple formats.

FIG. 21 is a process flow diagram 600 that illustrates oneimplementation of the stages involved in providing an autoresponderseries with messages capable of being delivered in a variety ofavailable formats. An autoresponder campaign is stored with one or morefollow-up messages that are available to users in multiple formats(stage 602). At a later point in time, a request is received tosubscribe to an autoresponder campaign of one or more messages (stage604). The request is received from a device that has been operated by asubscriber, such as a telephone or computer of the subscriber. Therequest specifies one or more formats in which the subscriber wishes tobe notified, from those that may be available for the campaign, such asvoice broadcast, email, SMS text message, voice broadcast by email, fax,to name a few non-limiting examples. The subscriber is added to theautoresponder series (stage 606). The one or more messages are sent tothe subscriber in the one or more specified formats as scheduled for thecampaign (stage 608). As one non-limiting example, when the subscriberhas subscribed to the campaign for the voice broadcast, the one or moremessages are sent in a voice broadcast to a phone number that waspreviously specified by the subscriber. As another example, when thesubscriber has subscribed to the autoresponder series for the voicebroadcast by email, the one or more messages are sent as an audio filethat is attached to an email being sent to an email address that waspreviously specified by the subscriber.

The subscriber can also choose to receive the messages in multipleformats if desired, such as voice broadcast and email, or voicebroadcast and email with broadcast, or SMS text message and email, etc.When the subscriber has requested to receive the message in multipleformats, different formats of the message are retrieved for thecampaign, and then sent in the formats requested by the subscriber.Numerous other variations and/or formats could also be used in otherimplementations instead of or in addition to these examples. The stagesof sending messages to a subscriber in one or more of the availableformats can be repeated for multiple subscribers (stage 610).

FIG. 22 is a process flow diagram 620 that illustrates oneimplementation of the stages involved in generating another messageformat from a user-specified message format. One of the message formatsthat can be made available to subscribers is programmatically generatedfrom another format that was specified by the user of the autorespondersystem (stage 622), such as a campaign administrator. For example, avoice broadcast can programmatically be generated from an email/textformat using text-to-speech technology. In other words, the text fromthe email message gets translated into an audio version that isplayed/spoken to the subscriber. By converting the text into an audioversion that is played or otherwise spoken to the subscriber, thesubscriber can “listen to” the message by voice broadcast instead of orin addition to reading the message by email.

As another non-limiting example, a fax can programmatically be generatedfrom an email/text format by generating an image that contains some ofthe text and/or other formatting as desired.

In one implementation, the programmatically generated format getsgenerated one time and then saved as part of the available messageformats until another change is made that would impact thatprogrammatically generated format. In another implementation, theprogrammatically generated format is just generated at the moment amessage needs to be sent to a particular subscriber.

The messages are then sent to the subscriber in the requested formats ona scheduled basis, as scheduled for the campaign (stage 624). Some orall of these stages can be repeated for multiple subscribers, asappropriate (stage 626).

Turning now to FIGS. 23-27, some simulated screens will be used toillustrate the integration of voice broadcasting techniques into anautoresponder that supports multiple message formats. FIG. 23 is asimulated screen 670 for one implementation that illustrates adding anew campaign to an autoresponder system. Upon selecting add new option672, a new campaign can be created.

FIG. 24 is a simulated screen 680 for one implementation thatillustrates managing messages in an autoresponder series. In the exampleshown, details about messages 682 for a particular autoresponder 684 areshown. In this example, there is one message 686 currently assigned tothe autoresponder series. The message can be sent to the subscribers inone or more formats, such as voice broadcast, SMS text message, email,voice broadcast by email, and fax, depending on what has been specifiedfor the message criteria (shown in further detail in FIG. 25). The usercan specify the additional details regarding the message for thatparticular format. A user can add a new message to the autoresponderseries by selecting the add message option 688.

FIG. 25 is a simulated screen 700 for one implementation thatillustrates editing a selected message and/or creating a new message foran autoresponder series in multiple available formats that users will beable to select from, as desired. In the example shown, various detailsabout the message are displayed, including sequencing 702 and timing ofwhen the message should be sent, templates to use as a starting pointfor the message 704, and a subject of the message 706. A plain textversion of the message 708 and/or an HTML version of the message can bespecified 710. Alternatively or additionally, an audio file 712 can beattached to an email and sent as a voice broadcast with subject 706 oranother subject. In one implementation, audio file 712 can be used forvoice broadcast by email. Other formats, such as a fax file 714 to beused for faxing can be specified, and/or an SMS text message 716 canalternatively or additionally be specified. These are just a fewexamples for the sake of illustration, and additional or fewer formatscould also be used in other implementations.

FIG. 26 is a simulated screen 730 for one implementation thatillustrates managing subscribers 732 associated with a particularcampaign. In the example shown, details about some of the existingsubscribers 736 to the selected campaign are shown. One or more actions734 can be taken against the subscriber list, such as to edit thedetails, search the subscriber list for particular criteria, add a newsubscriber, or import subscribers. The formats (contact methods 738)that the subscribers have requested to have messages sent to them in arealso indicated. For example, subscriber Jane Doe has requested toreceive the messages in this autoresponder series by voice broadcast 740and voice broadcast by email 742. John Doe, on the other hand, hasrequested to receive the messages for this autoresponder series in anemail format 744.

FIG. 27 is a simulated screen 760 for one implementation thatillustrates managing automation rules that are associated with aparticular campaign, such as the action 762, campaign list 764, phonenumber 766, phone key 768, and delete option 770. Some or all of thesefields may be filled out or left blank depending on the action 762 thatis being specified. In this example, these are three automation rulesassigned to the current campaign. For example, there is a unsubscribeaction 772 to unsubscribe the subscriber from the current list when thesubscriber subscribes to campaign list 774. As another example, there isa call this number action 776 that indicates the phone number 778 thatshould be called when the user presses phone key 780 (which is the 0 keyin this example). As yet another example, there is another call thisnumber action 782 that indicates the phone number 784 that should becalled when the user presses phone key 786 (which is the # key in thisexample). These latter two automation rules can be used, for example, tospecify phone numbers used with voice broadcast messages for allowingthe subscriber to speak to a live operator, unsubscribe from the list,etc. Numerous other types of automation rules can be used in otherimplementations. These are just used for the sake of illustration.

As shown in FIG. 28, an exemplary computer system to use forimplementing one or more parts of the system includes a computingdevice, such as computing device 800. In its most basic configuration,computing device 800 typically includes at least one processing unit 802and memory 804. Depending on the exact configuration and type ofcomputing device, memory 804 may be volatile (such as RAM), non-volatile(such as ROM, flash memory, etc.) or some combination of the two. Thismost basic configuration is illustrated in FIG. 28 by dashed line 806.

Additionally, device 800 may also have additionalfeatures/functionality. For example, device 800 may also includeadditional storage (removable and/or non-removable) including, but notlimited to, magnetic or optical disks or tape. Such additional storageis illustrated in FIG. 28 by removable storage 808 and non-removablestorage 810. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Memory804, removable storage 808 and non-removable storage 810 are allexamples of computer storage media. Computer storage media includes, butis not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memorytechnology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other opticalstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used tostore the desired information and which can accessed by device 800. Anysuch computer storage media may be part of device 800.

Computing device 800 includes one or more communication connections 814that allow computing device 800 to communicate with othercomputers/applications 815. Device 800 may also have input device(s) 812such as keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device,etc. Output device(s) 811 such as a display, speakers, printer, etc. mayalso be included. These devices are well known in the art and need notbe discussed at length here. In one implementation, computing device 800includes one or more portions of autoresponder system 10 and/or virtualseminar playback system 500.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims. All equivalents, changes, andmodifications that come within the spirit of the implementations asdescribed herein and/or by the following claims are desired to beprotected.

For example, a person of ordinary skill in the computer software artwill recognize that the examples discussed herein could be organizeddifferently on one or more computers to include fewer or additionaloptions or features than as portrayed in the examples.

What is claimed is:
 1. A virtual seminar playback system comprising: avirtual seminar playback module that is operable to allow a plurality ofsubscribers to access a playback of a media recording over acommunication connection, the playback beginning as a specific starttime and lasting for a specific duration; and the virtual playbackmodule being further operable to ensure that when a particular one ofthe subscribers accesses the playback at a point in time that is afterthe specific start time, but before the playback has passed the specificduration, the media recording is delivered to the particular one of thesubscribers starting at a point in the media recording that correspondsto a delay interval; and a virtual seminar follow-up module that isoperable to send follow-up messages to the plurality of subscribers,with the follow-up messages being customized based upon actions taken bythe plurality of subscribers during the playback, wherein the virtualseminar follow-up module is further operable to send a follow-up messageto each of the plurality of subscribers who only participated in aportion of the playback to give details about how to access an entireversion of the media recording.